£20m SCOTTISH CUP DEAL

From next season, the Beeb will cover one live match in the first, second and third rounds of the competition for the first time.

Armchair fans will be able to watch four live games in the fourth, fifth and sixth rounds on the same channel and Premier Sports.

The satellite company will show one semi-final exclusively while the other last-four game and the Cup Final will be broadcast across both channels.

SFA chief executive Ian Maxwell said: “This deal will ensure that more action than ever before will be broadcast live to the nation.

“It will also drive significant revenue back to all the clubs who participate in the competition, ensuring ongoing investment into the game.”

The announcement comes just days after the SPFL confirmed they were close to completing a near-£100million contract with Sky for Premiership rights from 2020, as CQN reported last week.

That will cut BT Sport out of the loop as far as the league is concerned although the broadcaster, with former Celtic strikers Chris Sutton and John Hartson as top-class match summarisers, still hold the rights to the Betfred League Cup.

They will be showing the Hoops’ attempts to win their seventh domestic trophy under the reign of Brendan Rodgers when they take on Aberdeen in the tournament Final on December 2.

Over the previous two years, BT covered the 3-0 win over Aberdeen, where Tom Rogic, James Forrest and Moussa Dembele (pen) shared the goals, and they were live at Hampden last season to deliver the 2-0 triumph over Motherwell with Forrest, scoring in his third Final in the competition, and Scott Sinclair on target via the penalty spot.

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